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Show l'I'ow·spiritmtl Love maJ ma~ a soul Sick.: t-hat Gods Love is nbt obvious always to our fenfe,· bu~ lhewn aswell under cha!lenings and attliCtions as-other.wtf<, whtch (hov.:ever true in itfelf J is as hard to be difcerncd by the Soul, that ts incumbred with f\~lh, as for the Child ( whiles a ~hild) to difcero his Fathers Love in his frowns and the ufe of lm Rod. And thus I have {hewed you both the ki;ds of t.his. Love-~ick.,nt{t, and the C•ufes of it. I have yet to make ~ppltcauon of tt. Obkrve here firlt, The Nature of DJVItle Love. L o~e ( amonr,tl creatures) ufually is a fruitful thing, and begets love m the objetl: that it tixeth upon. Ordinarily, 1 fay, it doth fo amongfl CJeaturcs, it always doth fo betwixt the Creature ~n~ the Creator; I mean it of fpecial diftinguijhing love. There tS mdeed a General and Common Love with which God embraceth the whole creation ; (for he preferveth both man and beafl. an~ hate~h nothing that he hath made) •. This Love is not thus efficaCJoHf; tt on Gods part produceth a providential care for the creature ; hence God fedeth the Ravenr, clotheth the grafT, and. caufeth his SHn to jhim, ·and his rain to fali upon the jufl and un)ufl. But yet he. ts not loved by the unjufl again. But there is another jpwal_diftzn~ui.fh· in• Jove which God lbeweth unto his people, an mtenle and in~imate'Love difcovered to the Soul in effdlllal CaVing, 1uflification, the i•fiue~cer of hu holy Spirit.: This love it ~ik.! fire that begets a love again in the Soul to Chrift: No fooner lS.t~e Spoufe o1rried into the banquetting· bou[e ,and dtfcerns th~tChrtfi s banner over her is Jove; but {be crys out like one ravifhed, Oh flay '"', withfiaggons, and comfort me with appler,,for I amfic~oflo~e; and indeed by this lbaJI the Soul difcern that God loves It~ sf It finds that it doth truly and unfeignedly Jove God ? n?r wtll any Soul have comfortable caufe to conclude the one ttll It find- fame cer· tain evidence of the other. ~econdly, Be notftartird if you meet with ar.y Souls thur {rc~; or if you tind your felves fometimes thus lick, I· Be not (Tartled if you meet witbfome Sou/r that are thTM fie}(, ~f love. Ah do no} mock,_ them, do not Judge them: There are feveral fympto~es o · this love-fick,_nrfi, which are common Jjmptomer to other dtf\em· pers which caufe them to be misjudged by me!) of the world, wh~ thus complain. I· As fick.. perfonr are often Vtr.)l penftve and fad; fo are thefe : they are made fo by their bodsly p~sn and indifpotition, thefe have no fuch caufe of fadnefs, not bin~ from the world to a!Bid them poffibly : but the thoughttsh e?ll · their Spiritual concernment, do every whit as highly a!Hid them. The penfive fad perfon, may indeed be di[ea[ed, and fad for his bodily anguilh and indifpofition; or indeed he may have crotfes and a/RiCtions in the world, and be fad for them ; be may be a weepillf. hypocrite, but he may be and often too is like H mn>h, a perfon of a forrowfi•l JPirit, upon a far better account than thefe are. 2. As fick perfonrare ufuaVy reftiefi, and can be quiet neither in bed nor u_p; neither £landing, lying, nor walking : So it is often with thefe poor fouls, Cant. 3. r. The poor foul cannot rei I by night or day, runs from Ordinance to Ordinance, from Duty to Duty, feeking him whom it loveth and cannot rdl, becauft it cannot find him ; it is as proper for this foul to do fo, as for the fick body to do fo; it is the mind which in them both is di! lurbed, though from divers qufes. The lick perfon is often having his or her recourfe unto the ·PhyficiaR, and to fuch means as he or !he coned veth proper for the removing of his or her ditlcmper: Nature teachetn ti>em this. And the love-fie~ Snul will alfo be often having her rccourfe, both to 'the great P:•yfician of Soulr; i. e, be much in Prayer, and a\!o to thofe whom this great 1'hylician of Souls hath imployed in the world for the intlrqments of this Spiritual cure ; _ to whom he hath faid, Comfort yoz<, comfort yott my people. Tne the love-fick•Spoufe, Cant. 3· 2, 3· feeks him whom her Soul loveth, in the City, the Streel!, a:1d the broad· places; lbe asks <.v~ry one whom lbe meets, the Watchmen, as thofe mofi likely to mform her, and the d•ughter s.of Hieru[alem: Do you therefore .at any time fee any fuch Souls in the world? Ah do not mock them, do not call them hypocrites: God judgeth the fecret things of mans heart. Remember how much Eli was out who judged Hann•h.drHnk._, .when lbe wasonly of a fpiritually·fadhe4rt, and thofe tl)Jflaken, who Allr 2. Judged the Apotlles dmnk.,with new ·fYint_, who were filled with the holy Spirit of God. Remember that st is equa~ abomination to God to condemn the .g,ener•tio>l of the_]Hft, as to Juftifie the ge»erdti~n of the wlck_ed. If indeed yo1.1 fee any ~o complaining, fo crying out, who in the courfe of their lives .evtdence, that they have no Love of God 01ed abrnad in the_ir hearts, nor any love working in tqeir hearts towards God ; you may then determine concerning them: but if you obferve th~m in the courfe of their lives, walking humbly and clofely wtth God; take heed Gf !corning, defpiflng or condemning them; 0 2 'tis |